Venom in the Shadows

The corridors of Blackthorn Manor had never felt more suffocating. Every step Julia took echoed like a whisper of her own imprisonment, a reminder that she was a captive in a gilded cage. Her wolf, Elara, prowled restlessly in her mind, pacing and growling, sensing the tension in the air.

Something is coming, Elara warned. We can feel it. Olivia's presence… it poisons everything.

Julia pressed herself against the cold stone walls, trying to remain unseen. She had learned over the past days to m